Pathic Tendencies
by Dapper
Summary: Orophin’s heart is broken when his brother claims the elf he loves. SLASH, fluff.


**Pathic Tendencies, Elladan/Orophin/Elrohir/Rumil  
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**Beta:** The ever awesome Keiliss!

**Words:** 3654

**Disclaimer:** Tolkein's. Not mine.

**Author's notes: **Canon and Fanon alike will fear me! For I will chibi-fy your hot, studly males until they be small and adorable! *snickers*

**Request:** Legolas/Haldir or Elladan/Orophin or Elrohir/Rumil. Or all three. R-NC17 Angst, H/C, some fun maybe. Book-verse, 3rd age, a misunderstanding that causes problems for the couple.

**Summary:** Orophin's heart is broken when his brother claims the elf he loves.

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* * *

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For the first time in his life, the sounds of merriment and high-spirited revelry did not draw him to participate. He heard the lively plucking of instruments, both amateur and professional, growing ever louder until the trees fairly vibrated with boisterous energy, yet the promise of liquor and laughter had, for once, failed to inspire any of the usual celebratory vibes within him.

Normally he would have been the first to throw himself into the ring of dancers around the fire and lose himself in the steady rhythm of a drumbeat, the fleeting touches of wandering hands and the light-headed giddiness that comes from imbibing far, far too much alcohol.

Normally, he might very well have been the instigator of this impromptu gathering.

Normally, he would not have been slinking his way through the shadows on the very outskirts of the festivities, contemplating the wisdom of approaching an ellon who was by far his superior in every possible way.

He could see the peredhel clearly from this position. Elladan stood a full head shorter than his full-blooded counterparts, a throwback to his edain ancestry, but had also inherited the slender frame common to elvenkind, and in particular the fine-boned features of his mother. Surrounded by a veritable clamour of Lorien's wardens, all talking over one another with much in the way of good-natured jostling, he seemed almost out of place, like a young birch sapling in a stand of ancient pines.

Except that Elladan was shouting and laughing and pushing just as heartily as any of those robust fellows. It was Elladan who was challenging another to a duel first thing in the morning. And it was Elladan whose dark hair and wolfish grin came alive in the red glow of firelight, the gleefully flickering flames lending him an entirely unholy and rakish air.

Valar, what hope did he have with such an elf? Who was he but insignificant, in-the-middle Orophin? He was the epitome of mediocrity: neither too tall, nor too short; not dull, though hardly clever; not ugly but not exactly handsome either. Unremarkable Orophin, overshadowed by his formidable older brother and outshone by the younger.

Speaking of Rumil…

Orophin frowned as his impossibly gorgeous brother sashayed his way through the crowd, clearly inebriated. Many an eye turned to watch as he passed, all silver-red hair and long, long legs. Rumil, for his part, gave his audience a show worth watching. A fleeting smile here, a cheeky little wink there…

Of course, everyone knew that Rumil's flirting meant nothing. For all his beauty, Orophin could count the number of lovers he'd taken on one hand. Rumil was, quite simply, a tease.

Which was why Orophin could not believe his eyes when the silver beauty approached Elladan with a mischievous grin, took hold of the little peredhel's head in both hands and proceeded to kiss him to within an inch of his life. Elladan yelped in surprise, dropping his drink in order to clutch at Rumil's chest.

The uproar of cheers was deafening. Whistles and hoots and smatterings of applause filled the clearing, and even the minstrels stopped mid-tune to pound out a reckless _abbandono_ on their various instruments. Amid that din, no one heard Orophin gasp as he slumped against the nearest tree, breathing hard as though he had taken a blow to the gut.

Slowly Rumil released the stunned Elladan and bent to murmur into his ear. Elladan's eyes widened and he whispered something back. Orophin wished he knew what he said, for rarely had he seen his dirty-minded younger brother redden quite so quickly and thoroughly. Elladan grinned and then, much to the amusement of the crowd, the peredhel took Rumil by the hand and led him away.

No! Valar, no! It wasn't fair! Why did it have to be Elladan? Rumil could have any elf he fancied; why did he have to choose that one?

Orophin drew his hand over his face and gathered his shattered thoughts. He couldn't blame Rumil for liking Elladan. What sane elf wouldn't? The only person at fault here was himself, dithering on the edge of a decision that his heart had already made. Now it was too late.

With a heavy heart, he turned away from the party, only to meet silver-grey eyes looking up into his own. Orophin blinked, finding his path barred by a petite form, and felt a bitter smile coming on. This was a cruel and unnecessary fate, surely.

"I had not expected that," Elladan's mirror image remarked, looking somewhat bewildered.

"Nor had I," Orophin replied curtly, resisting the urge to offer comfort to the lost-looking peredhel. Elrohir would likely garrotte him if he tried.

Elrohir faltered for a moment, casting a glance either side of him as he searched for the right words. "I… I suddenly find myself with nowhere to stay tonight, Orophin. I would be indebted to you if I could make use of your talan."

Oh, and wasn't that just wonderful? It's not as though he could refuse! Elrohir did, after all, outrank him quite considerably. As he escorted the little lord to his talan, however, Orophin found himself wondering how Elrohir had known his name…

Eventually, he gave in to curiosity and asked.

Elrohir laughed. "Oh, please, Haldir talks about you all the time. He even made us watch you train once so we could _'truly appreciate your form,_'" he snorted. "Elladan certainly seems to have appreciated it, at least."

Big brothers could be so embarrassing! Orophin rolled his eyes dramatically. "I'm sorry. Haldir can be a bit… overbearing. He means well."

"I know. Elladan is the same. You'd think he was a hundred years older than me rather than a hundred minutes, the way he carries on!"

Orophin just smiled and nodded. Somehow, in Elladan, a proprietary streak didn't seem so bad.

"Here we are," he announced upon reaching his talan. It was shared between the three brothers, but with Haldir away visiting his Greenwood prince and Rumil spending the night with Elladan, there would be plenty of space for Elrohir. Orophin gestured carelessly around the main living areas. "That's my room. Pick whichever of the others takes your fancy."

Elrohir inspected both Haldir's and Rumil's rooms. Haldir's was immaculate, as always. Rumil's was the opposite, as always. Orophin's, though Elrohir did not look in there, was somewhere… depressingly in-between.

"I should take Haldir's," Elrohir finally announced.

"It is tidier," Orophin agreed.

Elrohir nodded. Then, unexpectedly, he cast a wistful glance towards the other door and confessed in a hushed whisper, "But I'd rather have Rumil's."

Orophin stared. Unbelievable! Was it not enough that Rumil had already ensnared one of the twins? Not that Orophin wanted Elrohir. For all that they looked alike, Elrohir was not, and would never be, Elladan. But still! It was like having salt rubbed into his wounds.

"Fine," he snapped. He turned abruptly, intending to retreat into the privacy of his room, but Elrohir's next words stopped him in his tracks.

"I hate him." Elrohir's shoulders tightened and his hands curled into fists. "I hate him! He knew I liked Rumil! Why would he do that to me?"

Guilt filled Orophin, and he turned back to the distressed peredhel. Could it be that Elrohir was nursing the same wounded heart as himself? Cautiously, he reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Elrohir leaned into the touch, and Orophin made out the faint scent of ginger and spices. Would Elladan also smell like this?

"You look like him," Elrohir said quietly, breaking into Orophin's musings.

"No, Rumil has always been the more beautiful of us."

Elrohir shook his head and stepped closer. "You have the same build, though he is a little taller. You have the same nose and the same lips." Elrohir's silver eyes fastened on those lips and he continued in a wavering voice, "It would be easy to pretend…"

Suddenly Elrohir was on his tip-toes, wrapping his arms around Orophin's neck and dragging him into a kiss. A quick, little tongue found its way into his mouth, heavy with the taste of liquor and sweeter than anything Orophin had ever known.

_It would be easy to pretend…_

Oh, Valar, but it was! It was so easy to pretend this was Elladan in his arms; Elladan whose hair he was caressing; Elladan whose perfectly pert little buttocks he was squeezing; Elladan whose shirt he was ripping…

Except it wasn't. Except that this felt completely and utterly _wrong_.

Abruptly he pushed Elrohir away, shaking his head in denial. "I can't. This isn't right."

"I'm sorry," Elrohir offered in a small voice. "I shouldn't have done that. You're not him."

"No more than you are," Orophin sadly agreed. Elrohir looked at him quizzically, and the warden blushed. "Are Elladan, I mean. Not Rumil, obviously."

Elrohir blinked. Then blinked again. "You like my brother?"

"Ah… yes? I thought you knew."

Elrohir shook his head in disbelief. "Valar! What a sorry pair we are!"

The corner of his lips twitched. He met Orophin's gaze and a tiny, sardonic snicker escaped him. Well, the situation was rather ludicrous. Before they knew it, the pair were doubled over with laughter and leaning on each other for support.

Orophin wiped the mirth from his eyes. "I don't know about you, but I could do with another drink!" he declared.

"Or several!" Elrohir amended. "Crack open a bottle, good warden, and let's make a toast to impossible siblings! They'd better be bloody well happy together, the bastards!"

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* * *

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By morning, both Elrohir and Orophin had come to terms with their brothers' relationship. They didn't like it, not one little bit, but they both held their respective siblings dear to their hearts, and neither would stand in their way. If Elladan and Rumil made each other happy, so be it.

They would simply have to learn to live with it.

It helped, of course, that they had drunk their way through every bottle they could find, up to and including Haldir's so-called 'hidden' stash. It hadn't been hidden for centuries, but, until now, Orophin had not needed it so very badly.

Valar knew what had been in those bottles! They had gotten themselves into such a state that, at one point, it was all they could do to lie on the floor, pointing and giggling at the way the breeze lifted the fine mesh curtains draped over every window.

It had been hilarious at the time.

The morning was less amusing. Orophin offered Elrohir a rueful smile to go with his cup of tea, a soothing mixture of hawthorn and nettle, which Elrohir gratefully, if gingerly, accepted.

Tongues loosened by alcohol, they had shared stories as though age-old friends rather than newly-met acquaintances. Orophin had told him all about Rumil: how, on the day of his birth, he had sworn to protect him to the last; how Rumil had turned into something of a troublemaker, forever getting into things he shouldn't; how, as an elfling, he had burst into Haldir's room when a certain Greenwood elf was visiting and saw rather more than his tender years had prepared him for. Orophin was certain it was this early education that turned him into the minx he was today and took great delight in reminding Haldir of that fact at every opportunity.

Elrohir had lapped up every word and, in return, happily burbled similar facts about Elladan. It had been both wonderful and heartbreaking; Orophin felt closer to Elladan now than he had ever been. Learning that Elladan once broke his arm while trying to retrieve Elrohir's kite from the granary roof only affirmed his belief that the eldest twin was a protector, at heart. Finding out that he'd gifted his virginity to a man from Gondor, sending their father into a fit of panic that had lasted more than a decade, caused Orophin to laugh 'til he cried. Elladan was an adventurous soul!

It was just what they had needed. A bond had sprung up between the pair, born of their shared rejection, and Orophin felt as comfortable sharing these things with Elrohir as he would with Haldir. He had even shared his clothing! Having ripped Elrohir's shirt, Orophin had lent him one of his own, though it was far too large for the diminutive Elrohir. The bottom hem trailed past his backside and the sleeves had to be rolled up to the wrists.

When Orophin took the seat at the other end of the sofa, Elrohir simply stretched out and rested his feet on his lap.

"Do you think it's safe for me to head back yet?" the peredhel asked rhetorically.

Orophin shrugged. "Probably not. If it were me…" Well, that sentence didn't need finishing. They had gone into great depth on the virtues of each other's brother, inducing various degrees of pride, amusement and outright revulsion depending on the particular attribute that was being discussed.

Elrohir's answering snort was cut short by the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Oro! Oro!" Rumil called. Orophin stared at his brother in surprise as Rumil burst through the door, gesticulating wildly. "I have to tell you what happened last ni… Oh!"

Rumil trailed off and gaped at Elrohir. His mouth opened as if to speak, then snapped shut with an audible click.

"It's alright, Ru. We already know."

"You do?" Rumil blinked, before looking at Elrohir. "Of course you do."

Elrohir stood. "I should go. Thank you for last night, Orophin." He barely spared Rumil a glance as he strode from the talan. Orophin couldn't fault his hasty exit. If he'd seen Elladan like this, he wouldn't be faring very well either.

It was a tense moment in which Orophin reminded himself to be happy for his brother.

Rumil stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Well, I suppose I had better get changed then…"

Orophin nodded brusquely. "Yes, I suppose you better had."

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Rumil spent most of his time at Elladan's talan after that. By default, Elrohir all but took up residence alongside Orophin. It was an arrangement that suited all of them.

Orophin was glad Rumil didn't know about his feelings for Elladan. That would make things even more awkward than they already were. He could only imagine how difficult it must be for poor Elrohir, whose brother knew about his love for Rumil. The younger twin was constantly subjected to Elladan's searching gaze. Whether Elladan was searching for potential competition, or to make sure Elrohir was holding up emotionally, Orophin wasn't certain.

Thankfully Rumil did not gloat about his relationship. No doubt Elladan had asked him to be a little considerate towards Elrohir. It was hard enough that Elladan had stolen Rumil away without having to hear about it too.

Still, Orophin did enjoy Elrohir's company. He was sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, possessed of a somewhat scathing sense of humour. It also turned out they shared many interests. They passed the time riding and swimming, telling stories under the stars, and occasionally lending each other much-needed support when it all got a little much.

Then, yesterday, Elrohir had told him he was thinking of leaving for Imladris to see his father and had asked Orophin to join him. It was a tempting offer. Maybe some time apart would lessen the hurt?

He was still contemplating the offer when the door to his room slammed open with a reverberant bang, sending him both leaping and spinning in midair. The spin was a learnt reflex, turning to face the potential source of danger, but the leap was all shock.

_What in the name…?_

"Elladan?" he gasped, taking in the fierce gleam of the silver-grey eyes that pinned him in place. Elrohir's eyes were soft, like liquid; Elladan's danced like fire.

The deceptively delicate ellon advanced on Orophin with such alacrity that Orophin was forced to step back. His legs hit the edge of the bed and he stumbled, sitting heavily, only to lean backwards as Elladan loomed over him. How the petite elf managed to look so menacing was a mystery. A mystery that was doing terrible things to Orophin's long-denied libido.

_Oh, Valar, please don't let him notice!_ Orophin pleaded silently.

Elladan cocked his head, regarding him with much the same interest as a magpie upon spying the struggles of an ensnared rabbit.

"You had better have a good explanation for yourself," he murmured softly. Orophin shivered, thoroughly terrified and hopelessly aroused.

"For… for what?"

"For what you are doing with my little brother! I have given you plenty of time, warden. Yet now I find that you are intending to travel to Imladris together? Did you honestly think I would allow this?"

"I… I don't understand. Why shouldn't I go?"

Elladan took a sudden step forward and Orophin flinched. There was anger and contempt in his expression! Why? Valar knew, he would never purposely do anything to upset Elladan, so what had brought on this wrath?

"You have shown me an unforgivable lack of respect, warden, and by extension I can only conclude that you do not value Elrohir as highly as you should."

Orophin blinked. _What?_

"You have two choices. You can either match blades with me so that I may take your measure," and here Orophin's eyes widened, for Elladan was a devastating swordsman who would likely hack him into a thousand tiny, little pieces, "or you can cease your courtship of him immediately and nothing more will be sai…"

"WHAT?" Orophin sat bolt upright in shock, nearly butting Elladan's chin in the process.

"Ah, so you do have a backbone after all. I was beginning to wonder."

"You… he… courtship?" Orophin spluttered. "I'm not courting Elrohir! What on Arda gave you that idea?"

"Beside the fact that he returned to our talan one morning wearing one of your shirts, and has since spent almost every moment in your presence? I can't imagine," Elladan mocked.

"But… but only because his shirt got torn. And we didn't want to… you know… get in the way of you and Rumil…"

"Me and Rumil," Elladan blankly repeated. "Oh! Oh no… didn't Rumil explain?"

"Explain what?" Orophin was starting to become frustrated.

"No, of course he didn't." And then, inexplicably, Elladan began to laugh. It was the loveliest sight, in Orophin's opinion, but he would have preferred being in on the joke.

"Valar, what fools we've been!" Elladan snickered, "There is no 'me and Rumil,' Orophin! That night Rumil kissed me, he thought I was Elrohir! It's almost a shame because he whispered the most romantic, drunken proposal I've ever heard in my entire life. He was mortified when he realised he'd gotten the wrong twin! And, well, I couldn't reject him in front of all those wardens - he'd never have lived it down – so I took him home to sober up."

Orophin was completely flabbergasted by this point. "So… you're not in love with Rumil?"

Elladan nodded. "He was distraught when he saw you together that morning. He thought you and Elrohir had spent the night together and has been spending all his time with me to leave the two of you in peace."

"Yes, well, Rumil always did have a dirty mind. Of course he jumped to conclusions," Orophin replied faintly. "Elrohir will be so relieved. He felt betrayed, you realise?"

"I know exactly how he felt, Orophin. He should have known better than to believe I would do something like that to him, but… perhaps it was my fault for not confiding in him as he did me." Orophin flushed as Elladan's quicksilver eyes raked him head to toe before coming to settle on his face. "I was not sure, you see. Usually it's fairly straightforward to tell who are the dominant types and who have more, shall we say, pathic tendencies, but you… you could be either. You switch, depending on who you're with. It's fascinating, really."

"I'm always in the middle…" Orophin whispered uncertainly. "Unremarkable…"

Elladan promptly cut him off by pushing him flat and kissing him soundly. Oh Valar, there was no way he could fail to notice his raging erection now! The little elf was practically straddling it!

"I had better be remarking on _something_ tomorrow," Elladan told him, grinding his hips forward in a rolling motion that left Orophin utterly breathless. "Now then, I mentioned something about matching blades earlier, I believe?"

Orophin snorted. And blushed.

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* * *

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It was mid-afternoon when Rumil returned to his talan to collect a fresh change of clothes. He hoped to catch Orophin and warn him about Elladan's plans while he was there. As much as he resented his brother for stealing Elrohir's affections, he was still family. Family looked after each other; that's just the way it was.

Unfortunately, Orophin did seem to be at home. Rumil frowned. Well, this was important. He wouldn't mind if he entered his room just this onc…

Rumil squeaked.

And that was pretty much all he was capable of doing after opening Orophin's bedroom door to see… that… that… whatever it was…

What on Arda were they doing? Rumil stared in unabashed curiosity…

Goodness!

Orophin was kneeling on the bed, his face crushed up against the headboard and his wrists bound behind his back _with his own hair!_ Rumil hadn't even known that was possible! It didn't look very comfortable for Orophin, though, as it pulled back his head to expose his throat… but Orophin really didn't seem to mind.

Of course, that could have something to do with what Elladan was doing...

Rumil blinked. Wait… if that was Elladan…

The petite peredhel's irritated glare bored into him. "Go find Elrohir!" he snapped.

Rumil didn't need telling twice. As he sped his way towards Elrohir's last known location, he absently wondered how long it would take the little lord to grow his hair…

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End file.
